Friday Quick Takes

1. Its been a house of sickness this week- we've had a relay team of at least one, mostly two boys off at a time. That's just one of the many joys of having five children - the flu takes twice as long to go around the house. Poor Mac has been hit with it the worst- you KNOW a boy's sick when he shows no interest in his new DS, refuses chocolate and ice cream, and actually SUGGESTS going to bed himself.
 Rory, on the other hand, who was also 'under the weather', gave an Oscar winning performance in an effort to extend his one day off. Big beseeching eyes, shuffling slowly around the house, that trembling little voice saying 'No dinner for me, Mummy-my tummy's sore..... Well, maybe just a wee bit..... No, a bit more than that....... And I'll maybe take that piece of cake too.' Aye right,pet. Is your bag packed for the morning?
From a purely selfish point of view, it's been three, long, tough weeks- the sickness coming right on the back of  Loverboy's jolly/worktrip to India. But them's the breaks, and thank goodness, everyone's on the mend now. *touches wood repeatedly*

2. My 5:2 eating program, which coincidentally  I've also been doing for 3 weeks,  has been going....very well actually, but if you want weekly weigh ins and hip measurements, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong blog. I've an aversion to standing on  the scale- once a month is enough for me-but I CAN tell you that I've lost the Christmas lbs, and I definitely feel my muffin top is somewhat reduced. (Of course it's all relative isn't it, because If I were an ACTUAL muffin, I'd be one of those humongous American style ones, whereas you're probably a perfectly proportioned fairy cake!)
More importantly though,  I'm finding it works for me.  I don't want to big it up too much-  there's certainly no before and after pictures- but I'm not finding the fast days too difficult. I actually enjoy the challenge of seeing how far I can make those 500 calories stretch, and then it's lovely not having to think or focus on it for the other 5 days.  In fact, on those other days, I'm finding that I appreciate the taste of food a lot more, and I'm much less inclined to graze mindlessly on the kids' leftovers. So at this stage, I'd say that I'm tentatively optimistic. As in, come July I might actually fit into those tight jeans hanging in the back of my wardrobe for the last 3 years, not as in, here comes ginger Kate Moss!

Come to Mama.....

3. Are you just LOVING Mr Selfridge? Cos I am! I watched 'The Paradise' before Christmas and adored it, but thought between that and Downton, I might have had period drama fatigue- clearly I was wrong. My mum actually bought me the book  it was based on several years ago, (well, it WAS Book of the Week on Radio 4), but I was a bit ho-hum thanks Ma, and anyway I'd had a pile of Grazia mags to work my way through, so it just sat on the bedroom  windowsill and got all sun faded.. Now of course, SHE'S hooked on the show so has huffily  retrieved it, but tells me that I can borrow it when she's finished!.

4. Finally, I wanted to say a big thank you to anyone who nominated me for the MAD Awards 2013 this week- I'm so very grateful! If you haven't and you'd like to, just click the badge at the top of the page- it only takes a minute, nominations are open until 18 February and I promise that I'll love you long time!

5. Finally finally, I heard this song on the Radio yesterday and it brought me right back and just made me smile. To think that I used to know ALL the moves!  Enjoy and happy Friday! Emmax

A Monday Minute

 I usually enjoy a bit of a yarn with you on a Monday, but that won't be happening today I'm afraid, because I have not one, but two boys off school with high temperatures, sore throats and bad coughs. So I'm just grabbing a break right now, between ladling calpol into the pair of them and just generally dispensing endless TLC. I've no doubt that any minute now I'll hear another pitiful, terribly feeble cry of 'Mammy!, and I'll have to take my leave. (I HAVE noticed though that if that wavering little call is ignored for any length of time, it DOES seem to rally and grow somewhat stronger and more distinct. Just saying.)

This is definitely one of those times where my being at home makes family life a little bit easier all round. I have to say that I'm very glad I didn't have to bundle up and offload two sick children on a friend or relative this morning..although it's probably more likely than one of us would have taken a day off, and let's face it, we all know who that would be! So, even though it mightn't always FEEL like a big plus, today I know that it  is. Like every other parent, I often find myself doubting our choices, wondering if we should be doing things differently, pondering if I'd perhaps be a better role model to my children, (never mind being a bit more flush!), if I was out at work. But for right now, I'm simply going to acknowledge the fact that it's a bonus, that while we've children off sick, I'm able to be here with them easily.

On a lighter and MUCH more frivolous note, I wanted to show you my newest footwear purchase- this cheeky little pair of Fly London ankle boots, that I bought on sale, reduced from £115 to £34.50, a tote amaze 70% saving, thank you very much! I'd wanted a comfy but stylish pair of everyday boots, only I'm allergic to completely flat footwear, but VERY partial to a wedge, so these were perfect. They arrived on Thursday and I've worn them all day every day since, and they're as comfortable as slippers, only clearly MUCH more fabulous!

 And the best part? I managed to flog two pairs of Fly London 'gently worn but with lots of wear left so grab yourself a bargain!' boots on eBay which covered the cost, so schweet to the beat! Who's the Mama, eh!!?? Must go, I'm sure I hear a weak little voice somewhere calling my name. Hope Monday's good to you! Emxx



  I've joined up with Sarah Miles at Hello Wall today-go on over and take a peek at the rest! 

Code Vom!

We had a Code Vom in our house last night. A pitiful, white faced Cormac came into our bedroom about 11 o'clock, having just upchucked the 2 large bowls of chilli he ate for dinner, all over his bed. Bright orange chilli on clean, white sheets...kidney beans were in abundance... a fish slice was utilised.... don't even ask. Unbelievably though, even amid such a graphic scene, his pyjamas remained unscathed.
The episode reminded me of one of the first posts that I ever wrote. It was about another code Vom last summer, which coincidentally, also involved Cormac. It's called 'Scooping up Vomit with a Spoon' and here it is....

Having five children means many birthday parties, in-house and elsewhere, which also means multiple opportunities for overindulging in cake, sweets and the like. The older three boys, in particular, will often enjoy unlimited quantities, (read-greedy!), and occasionally this results in feeling, and subsequently being sick later in the evening. When real illness is also factored in, this means there are numerous 'opportunities' in any given year for me to hone my vomit cleaning skills. I've seen it all in my time- war zone type scenarios (I'm going in-cover me!), involving walls, curtains, carpets and sheets (mentioning no names-J!), head to toe full immersion including, but not limited to, hair, ears, eyes etc, baby style projectile vomit and any combination in between. There aren't many things in this life that I'm an expert in, but let me tell you , I am second to none in this field. (What a winning addition to my CV-'Fully proficient and experienced in all aspects of the vomit sanitation process').
Yesterday was Anna's 12th birthday, and after a busy full day at the park, we had a barbeque followed by icecream with sweets and chocolate sauce followed by large slices of chocolate cake. Cormac, in particular enjoyed the aforementioned chocolate cake.....and there's your clue!
At about 11pm, as I was FINALLY sitting down reading the paper, I heard a pitiful little 'Mammy!' Now, there are many times one might hear this during the course of an evening-a request for water, another story, an extra cuddle but I knew this was none of the above and I took off up the stairs as fast as I could (Code VOM!!!). Poor Cormac was sitting up in bed, holding his stomach , and before I could do anything, he leaned forward ,over the edge of the bed and produced a perfect cow pat of puke on the floor.
(Sidenote- This is typical Cormac-he's my naturally neat boy, the only one who can get two days out of his clothes, the only one who doesn't end up with long streaks of tomato ketchup or yogurt down his front on a regular basis. He would never turn a full 360 mid puke, spraying everything and anything in sight, (still no names-J!).)
Apart from a tiny bit on the quilt, it was completely contained in that one area-not even touching his pyjamas. In other words, pretty much a best case scenario, second only to making it to the porcelain. After quickly assessing the situation, I got to work. First was dealing with Cormac. When the process is a 2 parent job, as it usually is, one seamlessly deals with child sanitation, the other with room sanitation. I was flying solo last night, but thankfully, because of Cormac's considerate barfing technique, once he was set up with a basin in front of him and a glass of water beside him, I was able to crack on with the room clean up.
Step 1 involved scooping up the vomit with a large spoon. Can I just say at this point that there are few things that ground one more than being on your hands and knees, spooning vomit into a plastic bag? ( I attempted to banish any self pity by considering how the situation could be worsened- If it were three o'clock in the morning this would be worse, if I had a hangover this would be MUCH worse, if it were three o'clock in the morning AND I had a hangover..and so on.) Next, I attacked the offending area with hot soapy water followed by liberal amounts of Febreze. A few minutes later, Cormac was tucked up in a fresh bed in a vomit free room and I'm not ashamed to admit that I had a more than a small amount of satisfaction for a job well done. Sad but true-Ask any Vomit Sanitation Specialist.